Absence
by PeppermintShamrock
Summary: Shuzo worries that Yuzu and the others will never return. In the midst of threats made against You Show for refusing to denounce the invasion as a fearmongering hoax, Yoko tries to help as best she can. Some mutual, but ultimately unachievable, singleshipping.


This goes along with my fic "Fear", in that it also deals with my speculation about the state of Standard while the Lancers are away, but it involves none of the same characters and stands completely on its own.

* * *

"I came here because I don't want to support LDS's fearmongering. But if you're going to be spouting the same invasion nonsense, then I will take my children elsewhere! I will not have this propaganda pushed on them!"

"I'm sorry, ma'am," Shuzo said, trying to restrain his temper in front of the irate parent and the students, "but it's not nonsense. I am an honest man, and I will not shield the children from reality."

"Reality?! And how much is LDS paying you to say that?"

"I take no money from LDS!" Shuzo shouted, then regretted that he had been pushed that far. He lowered his voice and said through gritted teeth, "We are _not_ affiliated with LDS in any way."

"Sure you aren't," the woman snorted. "And that's why two of your students are off on LDS's great promotional trip – including your own daughter, right?"

It was all Shuzo could do to stop himself from screaming at the woman. How dare she use Yuzu's absence against him? When it was that very thing, and the pain in Yuuya's eyes before he, too, had vanished, that was the reason Shuzo knew that this was real, that this was not some LDS publicity stunt. He had had enough of people dismissing and mocking his loss and grief. He had had enough of parents turning up at You Show, hoping to enroll their kids in a school that did not talk of invasions and dimensions and wars, only to grow angry when they found that he did not reject the events of the Maiami championship. As he struggled to form a coherent and collected response, the students spoke up, having witnessed the whole exchange.

"How can you say something like that? Yuzu isn't off on some field trip! She's been captured by the enemy!" Tatsuya said.

"Who knows what horrible things are happening to her!" Ayu added, shuddering.

"Oh, so now the 'soldiers' have been 'captured', have they? Funny, I didn't hear that one – how the story changes," the woman scoffed.

"Yuzu wasn't with the Lancers! She was captured during the invasion, it was another girl there," Futoshi countered. "We don't know what's happening with the Lancers. We don't know if they're alright…"

"The story changes every day. And they really expect us to believe this? Well, I don't, and nor does anyone not in the pocket of LDS. And no, your tears won't convince me of anything."

"Ma'am…if you do not have any interest in enrolling your children in my school, then I suggest you leave," Shuzo said, as civilly as he could manage. She rounded on him.

"You should be ashamed of yourself. Indoctrinating these young kids into a life of fear! I ought to report you to the authorities for child abuse – this school, LDS, and all the others pushing this scare tactic ought to be shut down!"

"And if you do that, do you think that would accomplish anything?"

"Yoko…!" Shuzo said, turning to the doorway where she stood.

"Do you think that they haven't already been asked to investigate LDS and the events of the Maiami championship? Do you think that they haven't reviewed the invasion footage a thousand times?" Yoko continued. "You can claim that everyone is on LDS's payroll all you want, but it won't change a thing. It's your choice if you don't want your children to learn how to defend themselves, but you have no right to deny that option to others. Leave."

The woman gaped at Yoko, then looked as though she was struggling to find something to say. Then she gave up, and pushed past Yoko, shooting both her and Shuzo an ugly glare as she departed.

"Thanks, Yoko," Shuzo said as soon as he was calm enough to speak.

"Of course. Don't need you flying off the handle at these people, do you? They'll just use that as fuel for their fire," she said as she entered the room and sat down on the couch.

"You were awesome, Mrs. Sakaki!" Ayu said.

"You really showed her!" Futoshi agreed.

"She took one look at you and was so scared she couldn't even argue back!" Tatsuya finished.

"Well, I suppose. Still, I can't always be around here to scare off people like that. Maybe it'd be for the best to close enrollment for a while."

"I can't do that, Yoko. I can't afford to deny any student that wants to come here – both in the financial sense and other senses."

They were both silent for a moment, and Shuzo studied Yoko's face, trying to gather what she wanted to say. He never was very good at that sort of thing, so in the end, she was unreadable to him.

"Kids, lessons are over. You can go home for the day now," he said. "Thanks for sticking up for me – and Yuzu."

"Of course!"

"Goodnight, Principal!"

"See you tomorrow!"

"Goodnight, kids," he said, with less enthusiasm as usual. The confrontation had made him weary, and although he tried to be cheerful and fired up for the kids, tonight he couldn't manage it. He watched them leave in silence, and stood there for some time after they had left.

"So, what brings you over here tonight, Yoko?" he asked finally, walking over to the couch and sitting down next to her.

"Oh, you know, just coming to check on you, see how things were going," she said idly. "I don't have as much to do lately, you know. Not having to chase kids down to give them their lunches." She gave a slight chuckle, but Shuzo could tell she was missing Yuuya, and Sora as well. He was too, almost as much as he missed Yuzu. The feeling of their absences were almost overwhelming, and he couldn't help but whisper the thought that had been growing in his mind ever since the championship, the fear that kept him up at night and threatened to overwhelm him.

"What if they never come back?"

"They will," Yoko said immediately, with a certainty Shuzo wished he could share. "They're tough kids, I know they'll survive. I know they'll come back home someday. I'll always have faith that family will be able to find their way home." She looked over at him, and a sad smile appeared on her face. "I suppose if I didn't, things might be different between us."

Shuzo nodded, not trusting himself to speak. It was true – Yusho had been gone for three years, and he could be gone for another 50, and Yoko would never give up hope that he would return. Shuzo knew this because, despite her constant drooling over teenage boys, Yoko was incredibly faithful to her husband, and would not give herself over to her feelings for anyone else as long as she had hope that Yusho would return.

He wanted so desperately to take her hand. To have physical reassurance that he hadn't quite lost everyone close to him. But he didn't. They both knew that they had to avoid even the smallest gestures that might lead down that path. Though they had never openly spoken on it, through half-sentences and words left unsaid in conversations not unlike this one, they had come to an unspoken understanding of each other's feelings.

It was better that way. It was enough to know that the feeling was mutual, even if they knew it could never be. As long as they never openly admitted it, then everything would be fine.

"They'll all come home," Yoko repeated softly. "Yuzu, Yuuya, Sora, Gongenzaka – all of them. They'll come back."

"But things won't be the same," Shuzo said, his second fear coming to the surface. Even if they returned, he had no idea of what sort of things they were having to face. It was war, after all, and few people came back from war unscathed, especially not children. "They won't be the same people we knew. They're going into a battlefield – a real battlefield, with death and torture and who knows what else. If – I mean, when – they return, will they be able to truly smile? Will there be any light left in her eyes? Will I be faced with a stranger in my own home?" Yoko did not answer right away, and the silence felt amplified around them.

"I don't know," she said finally. "I want to have hope…but I'm not naïve enough to think that they'll come back without scars – even if we can't see them. But I know this," her voice grew stronger, "I know that they'll have us. And we'll…have us, too. You won't be alone in this."

Yoko stood up, and walked over to the doorway. Shuzo stood up as well, but did not follow her across the room.

"I should be getting home," she said, facing away from him. "Goodnight."

"Goodnight," he responded. He wished she would stay, but knew why she could not. She continued walking out the door, but at the last moment turned around and spoke.

"Worrying about Yuzu won't bring her home any faster. It's hard…but try to focus on other things. Or else you'll drown in despair."

"She is my life. How can I think of anything else?"

"I wish I knew."


End file.
